This Tex-Mex Chicken Festa Salad recipe uses taco-fried breast meat, a homemade avocado dressing, and includes everything from beans and corn to olives and jicama.
Chicken Fiesta Salad
Course: Dinner, SaladsCuisine: Tex-Mex6
main-dish servingsWant to cut this down to something quick and simple? See the substitutions.
Ingredients
- For the taco seasoning:
5 tsp paprika
1¼ tsp cumin
1¼ tsp garlic powder
1¼ tsp onion powder
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cornstarch
1¼ tsp salt
Black pepper, to taste
Red pepper flakes, to taste
- For the beans:
1 package (1 lb.) red kidney beans
1/2 tsp salt
- For the chicken:
2-3 chicken breasts
1/2 tsp + 2 Tbs olive oil, divided
Salt
- For the salad:
1 head of Boston, or Bibb lettuce, sliced
1/4 head iceberg, cut into large, bite-size pieces
1/2 cup (loosely packed) cilantro leaves
4 oz. shredded Monterey Jack cheese with jalapeno peppers
1 large mango, peeled, seeded and diced
2 plum tomatoes, cut into half moons or thin wedges
1/2 of a small jicama (about 4 oz.), cut into bite-size strips (1 cup)
1 cup fresh or frozen corn
1/2 cup sliced pitted ripe olives
- For the dressing:
1 small avocado, pitted, peeled
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup pickled jalapeno nacho slices
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbs lemon juice
1 Tbs honey
1 clove garlic, minced
- For finishing up:
3 hard-boiled eggs, halved
3/4 cup slightly crushed tortilla chips
Directions
- Make the taco seasoning: blend all ingredients together. (Makes 1/4-cup, about 1.33 oz.)
- Cook the beans: pour the beans and 8 cups of water into an Instant Pot. Add salt and 2 Tablespoons of the taco seasoning. Stir. Set the pot to BEAN/CHILI, more (35 minutes), high (pressure). Natural release for 15 minutes.
- Cook the chicken: lighly oil a cooling rack and place it over a sheet of wax paper or paper towels. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Drizzle 1/2 teaspoon of oil over the breasts and rub it all over the top and sides of the breasts. Lightly salt the chicken, sift half of the remaining taco seasoning evenly over it, and gently pat the seasoning onto the chicken. Flip the chicken and repeat. Heat remaining 2 Tablespoons oil in a cast iron skillet set of a medium flame (setting 4 out of 9). Fry the chicken until well-browned, 4 minutes. Flip and move it to the oven until cooked through. Remove chicken from pan, place it on the prepared rack, and set aside until no longer hot.
- Start the salad: begin layering the salad. Start with Boston lettuce, then layer on iceburg lettuce, then cilantro, then cheese, and then 8 oz. of the beans. (Measured after draining. Repurpose remaining beans.) Layer on the mango. Slice the breasts crosswise, with the grain, and layer them over the beans. Then, layer on the tomatoes, jicama, corn, and finally the olives.
- Make the dressing: in a food processor bowl fitted with the steel blade, combine all ingredients on high speed until smooth. Makes about 3/4 cup.
- Finish up: spread dressing evenly over the top of the salad, sealing to the edge of the bowl. Cover salad tightly with plastic wrap. Chill for 4 to 24 hours. To serve: toss, nestle the eggs on top of the salad, and sprinkle with crushed tortilla chips.
Notes
- Substitutions: a package of taco seasoning for the homemade seasoning. 1 can red kidney or black beans, rinsed and drained, or 1/2 of a 15-oz. can of garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained (1 cup), for the dried kidney beans. 1½ cups chopped cooked (rotisserie) chicken or turkey (about 8 oz.) for the breasts (and in that case, skip the taco seasoning.) As much as 2 cups Mexican blend shredded cheese for the Monterrey Jack. 2 small tomatoes, or or 1/2 cup halved cherry tomatoes, for the plum tomatoes.
- I developed this recipe for a six-quart Instant Pot. If using a different size or type of pot, you may need to make modifications.
This salad has a really interesting balance of flavors:
- Overall, you do get a melded, Southwestern vibe with mild avocado tones – but you also taste lots of individual flavors … and not necessarily the same flavors in every bite.
- When you hit on one of the mango pieces, it’s so surprising and refreshing.
- The cilantro, when you come up on it, is absolutely fantastic in this mix. I mean, I do like cilantro, but I love it in this salad like I’ve never loved it before.
- I used oil-cured black olives, and when you come upon one of those … wow! The bitter contrast is stunning.
- The sweeness of the corn, the egginess of the egg … it’s all so good. Even the tomato seems extra good in the mix.
- Of all the flavors, the taco seasoning lies furthest to the back, becoming rather subtle.
Social Learning
Why would you make homemade taco seasoning? Mainly because it has a complexity that I’ve never encountered in my albeit limited experience of buying pre-made mixes. It has an overall taste of “taco,” but within a second you start going, “Oh yeah, I get the cumin … but hey, there’s the oregano, and there’s the onion…” It’s like tasting a taco kaleidoscope. Secondarily, it’s also fun to make, and so easy.
While sifting the seasoning onto the chicken, some of the larger herbs may not make it through the sifter. If that happens, once you’ve sifted all you can, turn the sifter over and distribute any remaining herbs over the chicken.
Tossing this salad is quite a chore. I started by inverting a mixing bowl over the salad bowl, creating a kind of sphere, and shook it like crazy. That did a partial job. I then divided the salad between the bowls, tossed the contents of each of them with a flexible spatula, and then joined them back into the same bowl again.
Like any green salad, you have to eat this as soon as you’ve tossed it with the dressing, and you can’t expect any dressed leftovers to hold up well. The dressing is thick enough, though, that the fuse on your salad bomb is longer than most. Six hours later, it’s still OK enough for me, but I wouldn’t serve it to guests. The next day, I would take a hard pass on it … but my husband has some curious mutation that allows him to like soggy salad. Yes, I know … sus. Being able to eat soggy salad sounds like that one flaw in his disguise that should make me suspect he’s actually an alien, posing as a human, but I ignore that, because if it’s true, I don’t really want to find out.
Suggestion for the surplus beans: make a pot of chili. (Don’t drain them, and don’t measure them. Just add beans and liquid to taste.) Or make baked beans. (Do drain them, and then use all the beans you have left.)
The Backstory
This recipe was inspired by “24-Hour Chicken Fiesta Salad,” in Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook. (Des Moines, IA: BHG, 1996), 425. I feel that it’s especially important to make that citation, because this particular salad is unique to BHG. In doing research for this post, I stumbled onto their recipe, reprinted word for word, on many sites, with no citation. Shameful. Don’t get me wrong here; I’m not saying that citations are always in order, in every case. But when you copy an entire recipe, word for word … I mean, come on. Were you raised by cats?
Adult Lunchbox
Given that this salad won’t hold up well once it’s dressed, I suggest that you store the salad and dressing separately, in open defiance of the recipe. When packing your lunch, feel free to cover your packed salad with a layer of dressing, and when lunchtime comes, shake up to distribute the dressing, then toss in the chips.
Chicken Fiesta Salad
Credit for images on this page: Make It Like a Man! unless otherwise credited. This content was not solicited by anyone, nor was it written in exchange for anything. Thank you, Kesor. References, in addition to BHG (cited above): Bon Appeteach, McCormick, NYT, Pillsbury, Real Mom Kitchen, Springfield – Green County Health, The Recipe Critic. Make It Like a Man! is ranked by Feedspot as #14 in the Top 30 Men’s Cooking Blogs.
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A very satisfying and delicious salad. I love that creamy avocado dressing too.
Thanks, Angie!
You may already know this, but it’s a tidbit of information that answered a question for me. I thought for decades that I was allergic to mangoes; when I ate them my mouth would itch, my lips would swell, and so on. Last year I learned that the skin of mangoes contains Urushiol — the same irritant found in poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac. I’ve not yet had the courage to try, but I’ve read that if the mango is washed and peeled very, very carefully, people who’ve had trouble with the fruit can enjoy it again.
Oh, how interesting! Glad you found that out, because mangoes are so delicious!
Sounds and looks delicious, then again, I got excited just thinking about a taco type salad. Although, this salad is way beyond a regular taco salad because of the complex tastes it includes.
Thanks, Judy!
Sounds like the perfect summer dinner salad! Thanks!
Thanks, Anne!
This is fabulous. And thanks so much for not using purchased taco seasoning, when it’s so easy to reproduce! Great ingredients.
Thank, Mimi!
What a list of the ingredients! Lol
Wonderful salad packed with different flavours and textures. Not really common combination for me – but I’d definitely give it a try!
Yeah, it is a lot of ingredients, I’ll grant you. I was in such a deep salad making mood.
Okay first, this sounds amazing. I’ve been making hearty salads for dinners all summer and I’ll definitely try this one. I find so many salads are a “chore” to toss. I love the trick of inverting one bowl on to another and dividing, like you did. Sometimes I do this, but hold the two bowls together and shake. I hope for the best of course, but yes, I’ve had a few messy mishaps this way. 😉 ~Valentina
GMTA!
Una vera festa questa insalata 😛
Grazie per essere passata dal mio blog durante la mia assenza! E’ un periodo un po’ pieno e non sono molto presente 🙁
New post oggi, ti aspetto ^_^
Thank you, and it’s been my pleasure!
This is like the seafood haters answer to your Tex-ish Mex-ish seafood salad. I always make my own spice blends — and not just because I’m allergic to G! You can do so much more with them (I like your use of kaleidoscope) and you know the quality of every ingredient you are adding. Still thinking of the seafood salad for Friday!
Thanks, David!
Love all the flavors and textures here! And, I’m all for citing the source. Great point!
The salad look so yummy! That’s good of you to cite your source. I hate it when other’s just copy a recipe and claim it as their own. I’ve had major food companies do that to me and it makes me so angry. Now, I will take a recipe as a base, then tweak it to my own tastes. My family always asks where I get my recipes from. Well, they’re mine in a sense. I may have gotten a start from a book or a blog, but I almost always end up changing a little or a lot to make it my own version.
I’m always looking for new salads to make Jeff, particularly with the heat wave we’re experiencing. I love all the variety of delicious ingredients you’re used here to create a delicious and vibrant satisfying meal!
Wow, this chicken fiesta salad looks amazing! I love the combination of chicken, avocados, black beans, and corn sounds perfect for a summer meal. I appreciate your detailed instructions and ingredient lists, which make it easy for even novice cooks like me to follow along.
I just love Southwestern flavours and this beautiful salad seems to hit on all of the high notes.
I don’t understand copying the recipe word-for-word, what’s the point? and as for not listing a citation for it is simply criminal. Yes, they were raised by cats. Feral cats! Hope you are enjoying the summer.
Thanks, Eva. I’m having a great summer! Hope you are, too.
this sounds very delicious Jeff. I love a hearty salad. that taco seasoning sounds very vibrant and tasty. I’m not sure you can buy it here (probably can) but making one’s own is always best. Yep I get irate when people just use other people’s work without giving the source. Grrrrr.
Thanks, Sherry!
Hi Jeff the Chef on ,
I really enjoyed your salad prep tips. You are so right! Planning and prep are key to sticking to our diet and health goals. I am sharing and pinning this post. Today I am sharing Agave Ginger Tofu and Veggie Stir Fry, Seared Tempeh with Rosemary Fig Sauce & Healing Cuisines: The Future of Food. All the best, Deborah
Thanks!